One thing Randy Holt seemed to unable to do as a hockey player, was to say "no" to a good NHL fight. Despite being only of average size for a fighter, Holt was known for taking on any and all of the opposition's biggest and toughest players during his days as a hockey player. Some of his more memorable dust-ups included spirited bouts with the Flyers' Dave Schultz and Toronto's Tiger Williams.

Holt was a third-round selection of the Chicago Blackhawks, 45th overall in the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft. He played three years in the OHA, two with the Niagara Falls Flyers, and one with the Sudbury Wolves. During his first year in Niagara Falls, Holt racked up 178 minutes in penalties as a 17-year-old. He scaled that back to just 118 minutes the following year, but he was only dressed for 27 games. During his final year of junior with Sudbury in 1972-73, Holt played 55 games, scoring seven goals and 49 points to go along with his 294 minutes in penalties.

Given his propensity for fighting, it was not a surprise when the Chicago Blackhawks assigned Holt to the CHL, which had a reputation for being one of the roughest, nastiest hockey leagues anywhere in the world. Holt suited up for the Dallas team for two years and was quickly introduced to the penalty box, collecting 222 minutes in his first year. Holt substantially expanded on that total in 1974-75, spending a staggering 411 minutes in the box while playing in 65 games. That year, the Chicago Blackhawks called him up to the NHL where he played in 12 games, but in seeing very little ice time he was held to just 13 minutes in penalties. Holt played 12 games for Chicago in each of the next two seasons before joining the Cleveland Barons for the 1977-78 season. In just 48 games, he had 229 minutes in penalties to go with his lone goal and five points.

Holt began the 1978-79 season with the Vancouver Canucks before being traded to the Los Angeles Kings who were looking for some additional toughness on their defense. Holt provided that and then some, collecting 202 minutes in penalties in just 36 games. Holt's next NHL stop was in Calgary, where he played with the Flames for about a year before being sent to the Washington Capitals for the balance of the 1981-82 season. During his two years with the Caps, Holt scored two goals while amassing 525 minutes in penalties. N 1983-84, Holt played his final NHL season, suiting up for 26 games with the Philadelphia Flyers. He failed to record a point, but did add another 74 minutes in penalties to his running total. Holt played in the NHL for ten years, scoring four goals and 41 points with 1,438 minutes in penalties.

Holt still has his name in the NHL record books for his involvement in a fight-filled game against the Philadelphia Flyers in a game on March 11, 1979 when, as a member of the L.A. Kings, he was penalized for 57 minutes in one scrum and a total of 67 minutes in total before being tossed from the game. That single-period total topped the previous high of 52 minutes, set by Jim Dorey of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1968. A total of 352 minutes in penalties were handed out during the first-period brawl, breaking the old record of 256 minutes, set by the St. Louis Blues and the New York Rangers. Holt was suspended for two games for his actions. He blamed the entire fracas on the Flyers' Ken Linseman. Holt says he was elbowed in the mouth by Linseman during a scuffle along the boards. During the fight-filled contest, Holt received a minor, 3 majors, two 10-minute misconducts, 3 game misconducts for a total of 67 penalty minutes, the most any player has ever received in one game.

REGULAR SEASON

PLAYOFFS

Season

Club

League

GP

G

A

TP

PIM

+/-

GP

G

A

TP

PIM

1970-71

Sudbury Wolves

NOJHA

1970-71

Niagara Falls Flyers

OHA-Jr.

35

5

7

12

178

1971-72

Niagara Falls Flyers

OHA-Jr.

27

3

5

8

118

6

0

3

3

31

1972-73

Sudbury Wolves

OHA-Jr.

55

7

42

49

294

4

2

0

2

34

1973-74

Dallas Black Hawks

CHL

66

3

15

18

222

10

1

2

3

51

1974-75

Chicago Black Hawks

NHL

12

0

1

1

13

-1

1974-75

Dallas Black Hawks

CHL

65

8

32

40

411

10

0

7

7

86

1975-76

Chicago Black Hawks

NHL

12

0

0

0

13

-12

1975-76

Dallas Black Hawks

CHL

64

6

46

52

161

8

3

2

5

51

1976-77

Chicago Black Hawks

NHL

12

0

3

3

14

-4

2

0

0

0

7

1976-77

Dallas Black Hawks

CHL

30

0

10

10

90

3

0

1

1

25

1977-78

Chicago Black Hawks

NHL

6

0

0

0

20

-4

1977-78

Cleveland Barons

NHL

48

1

4

5

229

-24

1978-79

Vancouver Canucks

NHL

22

1

3

4

80

-1

1978-79

Los Angeles Kings

NHL

36

0

6

6

202

-2

2

0

0

0

4

1979-80

Los Angeles Kings

NHL

42

0

1

1

94

-3

1980-81

Calgary Flames

NHL

48

0

5

5

165

-6

13

2

2

4

52

1981-82

Calgary Flames

NHL

8

0

0

0

9

-4

1981-82

Washington Capitals

NHL

53

2

6

8

250

-7

1982-83

Washington Capitals

NHL

70

0

8

8

275

-7

4

0

1

1

20

1983-84

Philadelphia Flyers

NHL

26

0

0

0

74

-1

NHL Totals

395

4

37

41

1438

21

2

3

5

83

Brother of Gary CHL First All-Star Team (1975)

Traded to Cleveland by Chicago for Reg Kerr, November 23, 1977. Claimed by Vancouver in Cleveland-Minnesota Dispersal Draft, June 15, 1978. Traded to Los Angeles by Vancouver for Don Kozak, December 31, 1978. Traded to Calgary by Los Angeles with Bert Wilson for Gary Unger, June 6, 1980. Traded to Washington by Calgary with Bobby Gould for Pat Ribble and Washington's 2nd round pick (later traded to Montreal - Montreal selected Todd Francis) in 1983 NHL Draft, November 25, 1981. Signed as a free agent by Philadelphia, August 30, 1983.